Transforming Energy Through Laughter, Play and Fun!

WSC Intro/Outro: 00:00:04

This is When Spirit Calls and you on your journey are in the right place. This show is about magic miracles and meaning shared through stories, interviews and channeled messages. We have so much to share about who you are and your divine mission here on the earth. Let's get to it When Spirit Calls is right now.

: 00:00:32

I'm delighted to introduce Jesse Szymanski. Jesse is the founder and CEO of a thriving all female company called Modern Muse Media. It is a video production and Video Training Agency that empeowers other professionals on how to capitalize on the tangible impact of video as the premier medium for business promotion and marketing. Her passion is to entertain, train and inspire people through the power of story and video every single day. I'm delighted to have Jesse as my guest today.

DeeAnne Riendeau: 00:01:05

Oh, hello, welcome back. I'm so glad you're here. I am so excited about our guests, Jesse Szymanski today, and you've heard a bit about her. Hi, Jesse. Oh, so good to have you here. We were just giggling before we got on here because one of the things Jesse loves to do is laugh and so it's one of the things that I has always drawn me towards her. And so Jesse in the light of laughter, I'd love to hear from you. Why do you think laughing is important? What's the key about laughing that is so vitally important?

Jesse Szymanski: 00:01:40

Oh, that is a good question way to jump right into the deep end or rather, like push me off the diving board. I even what I feel like laughter Okay, so let's get cliche, laughter is the best medicine. But it really truly is, right? So we've just come out of a pandemic are still coming out of a pandemic, there's war happening in the world, there is so much to be concerned about. There's so much heavy, yeah, um, that we're all carrying. And I just feel like laughter is one of those magic wands. It's really the magic we have in this world that we can access that connects us, that lifts us that dissolves some of that negativity, in an instance, right? In an instant, you can achieve all of those things by cracking a joke or teasing. And it was very much a part of my culture, growing up the Ukrainian culture, of which I'm very proud of, along with as we're seeing resilience, and strength and courage. But humor, humor was just a really big, big thing in our family. And it's magic.

DeeAnne Riendeau: 00:02:50

You know, it is magic, because I want to talk about being an alchemist, because I know that you are an alchemist. And I'll let everybody hear your story in more detail shortly. But I see you as an alchemist, you can take one thing that looks like this. And you can change it and it looks like this. And so you can do that through video. But you can also do that energetically with other people. And I've watched you do that. I mean, you did it here. Just as we started the show, I asked you the question right out of the gates, and you made a joke about it, you made me smile and laugh. So you do have this gift of like changing energy from one to another. And I think this is something really powerful that a lot of people don't talk about, or we don't value humor in this way. But yet it is such a profound and important piece for us. So let's talk a little bit about the idea of humor. And what can we do in our day to day lives that can incorporate a little bit of humor. And I'll start us off a little bit because I saw a quote recently, and I don't know who said it. So the quote that I heard was that if we can, it's not gonna be perfectly accurate here. But when we can laugh at ourselves, it is a sign of wisdom. Would you agree that it's a sign of wisdom? If we can laugh at ourselves?

Jesse Szymanski: 00:04:08

Yes, I would, I would. And I feel like it's that ability to access wisdom from our inner child. Because I feel like the ability to laugh at ourselves is that freedom of all of the paradigms and the ingrained behaviors and habits that we have cultivated after we've reached a certain age and the ability to laugh at ourselves is the ability to access that inner child that place of innocence from within where everything is funny, you know, you trip or you fall or whatever you see, I mean, children are giggling they're laughing and laughing at things because they're not applying all of these perceptions and the stuff, if you will, that has been layered on. Right.

DeeAnne Riendeau: 00:04:59

Yeah, I really love that because there's this energy, you know, I encourage my clients to bring this up for themselves is the piece of childlike curiosity. And when we bring this childlike curiosity, we bring in this playful innocence to. And so we begin to see the ironies in life, we begin to see that life isn't meant to be taken quite so seriously. But yet, over time, as we come into adulthood, it's like, Well, you better get that done. And you have to do this, and you have to do this. And so we've come into this more serious space, when really, I don't believe that life is necessarily meant to be that serious. And so what a great opportunity for us to come into this joy of laughing at our own trials and tribulations as well. You know, I make fun of myself all the time. And and then I think, Oh, I'm so wise, right because of that. And it's not always because I'm necessarily funny. It's because I might do something silly. Or it's because I might do something that maybe one would perceive as being stupid or not the right thing to do. And then okay, what did I learn from this? Okay, yeah, that was not the right way to go. But I think it's about making light out of the dark too. And that's something that again, I've watched you to do as your work in with modern music media. So I'd love to hear your story on how you got there. And I'm sure we'll throw in some humor along the way.

Jesse Szymanski: 00:06:33

Well, interestingly enough, it was from when I was a child. And so I grew up in an acreage outside of Sherwood Park, which is just outside of the Edmonton area in Alberta, Canada. And I played in the forest, the forest was my playground. And I really believe that I'm in a creative career, vocation, passion, purpose because of that. So that's really where it started. And then my grandma and grandpa got the VHS camcorders, the big, big camcorders that I would hold. When I was about 10 years old. I'm the second oldest of 11, grandchildren, now 17, great grandchildren. And so I would do videos and commercials and music videos and all these things, I would record events with the camcorder. And it was just the ability to capture moments in time, that was just fascinating to me. And so what's amazing and beautiful is that I have been doing this for 33 years, and turned it into a multi award winning career. And then now into a very successful business, where I empower mostly female women to really thrive and not only survive, but thrive in their careers in an industry that was very much male dominated, but it's all based on Play. And I remind them of this on a daily basis is we're not saving lives. But we are inspiring lives, we are empowering lives, we are training lives for our video training. And so really, it's played.

DeeAnne Riendeau: 00:08:11

I love it, it is play. And that's where the humor comes into all of this too, is like really allowing ourselves to be in that creative space. And that that creative space, I think is also something that maybe we underrate, would you agree with that, too, that, you know, we kind of forget or we don't take the time to allow that creativity to come to the surface. And I think there's a lot of healing in creativity, I think that there's a lot of self awareness that comes out of creativity and a lot of healing that comes from creativity. And I've witnessed that so many times in my career to people who are willing to allow themselves to immerse in that creative space, oftentimes, also have really incredible epiphanies and have a deeper connection with themselves. And so I do think there's something to be said about this energy of play and having some fun. So Jessie, speaking of fun, about a time when spirit called you because I know you've had lots of moments that have led you into this path of where you are today and becoming a leader in creating video and teaching people and inspiring people. But I'd love to hear from you a couple of those moments in time where maybe you thought one thing and but it directed you another way, or led you down this path that maybe you didn't expect?

Jesse Szymanski: 00:09:33

Definitely. Well, what's interesting is if we go back to the beginning of this conversation in regards to why humor, I've had a very interesting life that is forming its way into a book. There's no question but there's been quite a bit of trauma, big trauma, small trauma, ups and downs and such starting from quite as a young age. And so I really feel like laughter And Joy was so important because it lifted me out of those dark places. But where spirit really called and where I kind of really started to tap in deeply to this spiritual journey was a few years ago when I met a woman by the name of Corby furrow. And we began to explore tapping, which is Emotional Freedom Techniques. And all of that was around the death of my mother. So my mother passed away when I was really young, I was 24 years old, she was sick for seven years prior to that. So really young, I found out when I was just graduating from high school and college for media. And you know, our mom was our best friend and she full, she would laugh, she would crack jokes all the time, she was the best at dirty jokes. And, yeah, she just had this incredible sense of humor, this incredible energy, this incredible aura. I mean, Her funeral was actually lined up outside of the funeral home, because there wasn't even standing room. I was like, this is the type of woman that my mom was, she impacted people. But I was totally destroyed for a very long time, totally destroyed. And so the work that I did with Cory was really when I believe spirit called in that, it was time for me to shine brightly. Again, it was time for me to give the gifts that I have to the world and live my life's purpose. And I wasn't able to through this sadness and sorrow and grief and shame. And I mean, there was so much that was attached to that. So I would say that that was really the beginning of what has been a really powerful past four years. And the beginning of when I would say Spirit calls, and that it was time for healing. And it was time to start clearing, and creating space for more joy, and for more laughter so that I could then share that with the world.

DeeAnne Riendeau: 00:11:59

I love that you shared the story about losing your mom, because, you know, obviously, you know, we're friends outside of our work life. And and so I've known this story for since we met. And I think it's such an inspiration to think about the fact that you were able to take your mom's passing, and you were able to lean into that, of course, you had your grieving process, but you were inspired by her own humor, you were inspired, through her death, to go on a deeper journey for yourself. And so we can even look at that as an I know, you can come to that space, because you've had time to grieve, but we can look at that experience as a gift. Your mum left you the gift of that humor and the desire to be an inspiration for other people. And so thanks, Mom.

Jesse Szymanski: 00:12:54

Without question, yeah. Can you talk about humor and what it can do? And how it's been such a big part of my life, my mum said something to me that had less such a big impact. And I was quite an emotional child, a high spirited child, a very sensitive child. And in those days, it was like, Why are you so sensitive, I now have a daughter. And I see her sensitivities. She's really, really similar. And so I'm careful to not do that. But she would say to me, Jesse, you have the ability to change a room. And I was quite young when she said this, and I and I didn't understand. So as the years went on, she explained a bit more. And this is exactly what you were speaking into about the alchemy. And, and I think we all have this power, and it's about tapping into it, right. And some of us are just tapped into it a bit more stronger than others, but there's no reason why we can't all and that is our energy directly impacts the world and everybody else's energies. So she saw from a very young age that if I was upset, I had the ability to upset the face. Right? Because I wear it on my sleeve. I just my aura so big and but when I'm joyful, and when I there's humor and happiness, and I've had so many people say I love your energy. I'm now in a place where I'm able to shift that and change that when I walk into a room have that power, if you will, and with the power comes great responsibility. So knowing that there is the light with the dark, and that we have the choice to do with our powers, but we will, right?

DeeAnne Riendeau: 00:14:36

I absolutely love that you were guided to express that because I think it's so important in this day and age. There's so many young kids coming up and we're saying well, no, you have to be like this and it has to look like this. And so a lot of times we are squashing that aspect or their own wisdom and personal power that they really do have this crazy ripple effect and we all have the power to create the

Jesse Szymanski: 00:15:02

I got the power.

DeeAnne Riendeau: 00:15:05

Love it. Ah, nailed it. Yeah. 80s or 90s? Come on we know he is. Mark, Mark and Mark is. No, but for some reason I envisioned Marky Mark a bunch maybe, I don't know, maybe I'm so wrong on that. But that's what I imagined. That's the visual that came to mind in his like, boxer brief kind of popping out the top of his pants. Like really ripped abs. Yeah, anyway.

Jesse Szymanski: 00:15:35

I think that's funky town or something like I got the power with Snap.

DeeAnne Riendeau: 00:15:40

Snap. Yeah, yeah.

Jesse Szymanski: 00:15:42

It's all good. Yeah. From the 80s.

DeeAnne Riendeau: 00:15:45

No, I think you're right. I think that was snap. Yeah. Maybe I just wanted to envision Marky Marky Mark. So, so fun. So fun. Okay, so back on point, what I'm trying to say is that it's so beautiful that your mom was able to express to you that you were able to change the room that you had the power to do that. And we are all alchemists. And this is something I think we've forgotten over 1000s of years, and, you know, layers of conditioning, but we really do have this sacred power within us to shift energy to change energy. And so when we think about, you know, times in our lives, and I'm going to invite our audience to think about a time in your life, when you walked into a room, and maybe you could feel tension, you know, we say I could feel tension, it was like cutting, you know, a cut it with a knife, we can shift that energy by bringing in laughter by bringing in joy by bringing in a different energy, we can disturb that low vibration, energy, whatever that is, and we can actually shift it and change it. And I've tried this experience plenty of time with my kids, even you know, the kids are angry, you know, they're cranky about something, something's not going their way. And usually my kids are like, the world is over, I want to die. Like it feels like that big for them, right? And so what I typically will do is I'll start, I'll make up a song, or I'll start rapping, or I'll make a funny face. And they give me that look like, okay, maybe that's not such a big deal. Okay, Mom, you're being silly. And they get caught up in that instead, and it changes the energy. And so it's reminding everybody, they have the power to change the energy and they in fact, are lights, they are beacons of light. If you choose to be, you can certainly choose to wake up in the morning and be all upset and cranky and ornery, and whatever. But remember, that's the ripple you're creating. And so what a lot of people might not recognize is that ripple, as far as it goes out, it also bounces right back to Yeah. Right. And so remembering that there is this flow of energy, what you put out, you also get back. And so how do you really want to show up in the world? Right? So I love that you brought that up?

Jesse Szymanski: 00:18:06

I have a question for you, too. What advice would you give to someone who's struggling with finding that place? So with mental health awareness and different things that play? I struggle in the winter months, November, January, February, That's February, but November, December, January, the darkness and sometimes like the getting up in the morning, and it's so dark, and everything feels so dull and tired. And, and so I know that there are folks that struggle with that, too. I think we all do at some point. And then you say, Okay, well just be grateful, be grateful, which feels very emotional bypass, see, and not acknowledging, so we can choose. But I just want to know like from you, what advice would you give, because I think this is going to be so helpful, because you are so wise to finding that place to getting out of that rut.

DeeAnne Riendeau: 00:18:58

Yeah, you know, Jesse, I'm so delighted that you asked this question, because I think you're right. And I think a lot of us do get in those funks. And there is spiritual bypassing where people are like, Oh, I'm just going to be grateful. And I'm going to pretend that I feel sad, or I'm gonna pretend that I don't feel grief. In fact, I recommend that we honor those feelings. So if you wake up in the morning, and you don't feel like getting out of bed, and I have lots of these over the winter months myself, where I had overwhelming anxiety, and I felt sad, you know, in some mornings I woke up and I just felt like crying. And so what I did is I honored that I held space lovingly and tenderly as though I was holding a sweet little baby who was upset and needed nurturing. So what I do with low vibration, energy, whether it's anger, grief, guilt, shame, whatever it is, I hold space for that. And oftentimes I'll even cut my hands and I'll say, Oh, hi, grief. I'm not happy. You're here again. I see you. And I know you're here to show me something, can you show me what you need to show me, as soon as I start to engage in that dialogue, it's like the energy already starts to alchemize, it already starts to change, it already starts to become hope, or compassion. And so just by starting in that conversation and loving on that energy rather than rejecting it, because this is our habit, right? It's like, Oh, I'm just going to pretend it's not there, I'll push it away, or push it down, and I'll deal with it later. No, we don't deal with it later, it stays within us and oftentimes makes us sick, right. And so we have this beautiful opportunity to honor hold space for that, because you know what, as soon as you hold space, for guess what, you're no longer in grief, you're no longer sad, you no longer have the anxiety in your day has begun. And now you can move into gratitude. Now you can move into off, thank you for that awareness. Thank you for helping me shift that energy. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And then we can change that pathway or trajectory for that day, versus stuffing that away and then pushing and forcing ourselves to move on with the day still feeling a little bit like that, but doing it anyways. And then we bring in we drag all that energy in through the day with us. And oftentimes, guess what, remember I said it's a referral, but it bounces back. And so we put that out there, and then we start to get we get a bad email from somebody or we get frustration coming from this or that or the other thing. So. So that's what I do. And hopefully that will help you as you continue to move forward to.

Jesse Szymanski: 00:21:35

I think that's really helpful. And I think that it's so important to acknowledge that there's a step that's often missed in between not feeling good, and just be grateful and feel better.

DeeAnne Riendeau: 00:21:48

Right? Yes, yes, you're right.

Jesse Szymanski: 00:21:51

And so I love that you shared that, because I think that that gap is what is often skipped. And then and that's the important part is the space in between

DeeAnne Riendeau: 00:22:00

The space in between. Yes, indeed. Thank you so much for bringing that to the surface, I think that's really important for people to hear. So in carrying on, you know, I feel like we're not done quite yet in this conversation. I want to just bring to light. This idea, again, about humor and joy in our days. And one of the things that I've been coming into a practice of is actually identifying things that bring me joy, and then speaking how they bring me joy. So what I mean by that, is that when I'm feeling kind of like me, you know, in one of those states, of course, right, honoring the emotion is one thing, but then what I'll do is I oftentimes will now write, okay, what brings me joy, what brings a smile to my face. And then as soon as I do that, guess what happens, a smile comes on my face, because I'm thinking about the thing that brings me joy. But I want to even take that one step further. And I want to invite and encourage the listeners to also consider this as a tool for them. When people share gratitude, or when people show up, I tell them, my heart feels so full, or I have so much joy because of this because of that. So Jesse, I have so much joy in spending some time with you today. And so I tell people that or I text people that or email people that I feel joy in hearing what you just said. And so what I'm doing is I'm actually moving from just thinking I feel joy to embodying the joy. And so I actually verbalize that, Oh, I feel such joy when you tell me that I see that with the kids. Oh, that makes my heart so full to hear that, Oh, I'm so happy. I feel this, I feel that I embrace that I embody that. And boy, boy, does that ever make a difference? So that's one of the things that I wanted to add to our conversation today. Because I think that joy is innately given it's already within us, isn't it? It's just that we're clouded or blocked by all the stuff right all the things we have to do all the stresses all the all of it. And so it gets muddied the water gets muddied and then we can't see the joy but it hasn't gone anywhere. And so for anybody listening who is feeling like there is no joy left in their life. I want to remind you, it's already there. It's within you it is there. We just have to clear some things out to get to it sometimes.

Jesse Szymanski: 00:24:32

Word.

Jesse Szymanski: 00:24:36

Like she said, Folks, listen to her

Jesse Szymanski: 00:24:45

I do with different voices. I like that too. With my daughter and, and dance, I and music, dance and music. I find if you're looking to shift anything, sometimes I'll feel like I'm in a funk or something's off And I'll identify that I actually haven't been listening to music in my car. Maybe I've been taking a lot of phone calls, because I'll use that time to touch base with the team or catch up or whatever the case may be. I'll schedule meetings while I'm driving safely on Bluetooth. And so, but when I play music, it takes you to a different level. And I'll notice if I'm feeling funky, or if something's quite kind of off. Often, it's because I haven't been doing that. And same with my daughter, you know, you talked about with your kids, if she's feeling down or something happens, usually, it just takes probably about 10 to 15 seconds of the most ridiculous dance moves to crack a smile. And you should know she can't resist because I go right over the top right. Like, I'm just like flailing and like just. So it's just that access point, right?

DeeAnne Riendeau: 00:25:54

Yeah, it is. It's an access point, really, you know, and so singing, dancing, music, laughing, playing, being creative. All of these are really, these are tools, right? They are entry points, like you said, in order for us to get to another state. So it's a good way to shift energy, there are great tools to be able to do that. And as you were speaking, and I could see the smile on your face, it made me smile. And that reminded me too, that oftentimes I'll be driving and I noticed that that like I'm I'm scowling or I'm like, I'm serious face on. And so then I'll just put on a smile. And then before I know it, people are driving by and they're looking at me and they're smiling too. And then I can see all the smiles. And then I start to also feel that joy. So smiling is one more that I want to add to that, that list of things that you can do to change the energy, even if you don't feel like smiling, smile anyways, because you'll start laughing at yourself. You just feel it just naturally. And then of course, then we smile in the rest of our body to write that oftentimes will happen where we'll feel the smile in our belly, and we'll feel the smile in our hearts as well. So bringing that smile sometimes is all it takes. Oh, Jessie.

Jesse Szymanski: 00:27:14

It's incredible how much we need to bring back the smiles and hellos. And by that I mean just coming what we're coming out of, yeah, I was at walking with my daughter just the other day, and people have forgotten to smile at each other and just say hi to each other. It's the avoidance of eye contact. It's the shifting, even though you're walking straight the body, you know, and I'm just while I'm observing. And so I will go out of my way to say hello clearly and like looking directly at them or even just like moving. That they know it's directed because some people are like, they can't be talking to me, right. And so we got to shift that pendulum back, we get to work even harder to get there because there's some things that we've forgotten. And that's even just how to smile and say hello.

DeeAnne Riendeau: 00:27:58

Absolutely. I love that you brought our awareness to that too. You know, we've been covered. We've been behind the mask for a couple of years. Right? And so we've forgotten to smile. And one thing I will say though, is like now I have to check my teeth all the time. Because now I can't hide behind my mask. I've got a better check my smile before I go in anywhere. So I guess there's downsides to everything. Isn't there?

Jesse Szymanski: 00:28:25

Another upside is you can wear lip gloss again.

DeeAnne Riendeau: 00:28:28

Right? Oh my god, I haven't gotten lipstick in ages.

Jesse Szymanski: 00:28:32

Like golf on everything.

DeeAnne Riendeau: 00:28:34

Oh my gosh, yeah. But you're right. Absolutely. About that. I think we have to almost there's a bit of reprogramming, right, because we really have, you know, there's been a barrier literal physical barrier there. And so I'm just gonna invite everyone to put a smile on your face if you haven't already through this beautiful conversation that we've had and invite you to smile as you continue moving forward on your days. Jessie, this has been such a fun time with you. I'm so glad that you were able to get on the show. I know it took us only a few tries. Yay. Oh, thank you so much for sharing your story. And I know that spirit will continue to call you as it has. And I really appreciate you sharing your story and your message of laughter and fun and play today. It has been so fun for me and I hope for all of you listening as well. And looking forward to being with you again next time everybody. Bye for now. Bye, Jesse.

Jesse Szymanski: 00:29:37

Bye. Thank you.